Choices
by violetdrops
Summary: The choices we make affect us all. Based off Dumbledore's quote about choices. This deals with a ADMM situation and how Dumbledore's choice affected them both.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the ****quote I used from a Harry Potter book by Dumbledore about choices!**

**Note: **_Past conversations will be written like this._

After a particularly rousing Order meeting its members were seated at the long table waiting to be served. Dishes, plates, pots, and silverware buzzed all around. Molly gave the command for the food to be passed out.

All at once the members dug into their food with a fierce hunger while thanking Molly. Albus Dumbledore was upset. Where was the gravy to put on his biscuit? He searched the table thoroughly coming up empty handed. Molly was about to ask her friend what was wrong when Minerva McGonagall carefully levitated the gravy bowl next to her across herself to Dumbledore without even looking at him. Molly went into shock. Of course it wasn't really all that shocking. They were always doing this. Always knowing what the other needed at the exact moment.

"Sometimes my dear I feel it is you who have legimentis."

"I don't need legiments to read you."

The rest of dinner went by uneventfully. However, Molly paid special attention to the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress through out the meal. She had noticed before of course. It was subtle but if you were as fascinated by the pair as she was, had a keen eye, one could pick out the differences between them and other working relationships. They way they knew what each other was thinking, how one quick look could explain so much, the way they seemed aware of each other. She wondered if they had ever been more than the just friends and colleagues that they were. She knew shouldn't be questioning the integrity of their relationship but it was a temptation that she used to indulge in when she was student and quite a hard habit to break.

Everyone helped clean up after dinner. After some discussion members began to leave. The number dwindled down to about only 6 left. Lupin, Tonks, Molly, Arthur, Albus, and Minerva sat around the table discussing non important matters.

"Ah but it is our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities." Albus spoke resolved on the issue.

"If choices show us who we actually are then what about the person who has no other option but the choice that was made for them?" Minerva pointed out. For one who spoke so righteously about choices he left her with none. She declared for him her deepest desires and he all but dismissed them as a silly whim. He gave her no choice on the matter and yet here he was saying that choices reveal what a person truly is? What kind of a person was she for that matter? "Would that therefore make them nothing for they have not been given a choice but an order?" An order to not to pursue the avenue she wished for. An order to forget about her juvenile little crush. An order not to let this interfere with their important work.

"Alas my dear you misunderstand.."

"No I think I interpreted what you declared very clearly. Now if you'll excuse me I have somewhere to be."

With those last words Minerva quickly headed for the exit. Everyone at the table was shocked. Minerva McGonagall was not one to get upset about a silly little argument. Least of all at Albus. Usually if she disagreed with him it was not as a spiteful as this one had been. All eyes surveyed each other.

"Was it something I said?" Albus questioned to both himself and the room.

"Something must have been bothering the Professor. She surely wouldn't have just left just because of a comment." Remus spoke up. They all examined Dumbledore. He did look a bit put out by his friend's rushed leaving.

"I'm sure she is just feeling tired. Order work can take a toll on you." Tonks offered.

After a short silence Arthur spoke "Makes you wonder what kind of choice she was denied doesn't it?"

The table saw Albus reaction to the question and it scared them. He looked at first as if he just realized what Minerva said, then he appeared angry, and then somber. He only did it for her benefit. She was only just out of Hogwarts then. He never had the guts to explain to her that he did love her as she did him instead saying that such a relationship was inappropriate.

"_Minerva, I am sorry but the way you feel is only an admiration for me. You will find that one day you truly do not love me and regret your decision. It would be in your best interest if you simply forget about this."_

When she came back after the war to teach at Hogwarts he was delighted. It seemed as if nothing had ever changed between them. Letters sent during the war were filled with activities because they vowed to not let this affect their connection. They never spoke of the night she declared her undying love for him, the night he rejected her, the night he broke both their hearts. They continued their friendly professional relationship through the years as they rose in their positions. Both Albus and Minerva were extremely close and side by side. The lived with their love for each other buried so they could pretend it didn't exist. Albus checked his pocket watch surely his best friend would still be up by now. He sighed.

"Alas, it seems as if I should be on my way back to the castle. Thank you all for the most pleasant evening."


End file.
